Should Famine Be A 'Crime Against Humanity'

Somalia Famine 'Crime Against Humanity'? -- Jens David Ohlin, CNN

(CNN) -- Somalia is known to most Americans as the setting for the book and film "Black Hawk Down" and as the world center for modern-day pirates. It is the poster child for failed humanitarian interventions and for good intentions gone wrong.



But none of that should blind Americans to the horrific humanitarian crisis developing in Somalia, a growing famine that threatens to kill hundreds of thousands of people if they do not receive help from the international community.



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My Comment: So .... Jens Daid Ohlin believes that by sending in the lawyers and judges under the supervision of the International Criminal Court will make a difference .... sighhhh .... I would love to believe that this is true, but I doubt that Al-Shabaab and other Islamic insurgent groups would care what a court in the Hague thinks about them and/or what they are doing.



As to classifying famine as a "crime against humanity" .... I say definitely, but without any enforcement teeth and/or cooperation among the players in a region like Somalia .... there is very little if anything that we can do to bring those who commit such crimes to justice.